Venture Annual Report

We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER) which provides key information on the 2016-17 educational progress for Venture Academy. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact Dr. Brandi-Lyn Mendham for assistance.

The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting Venture AER, or you may review a copy in the main office at your child’s school.

Currently, Venture Academy is in its fourth year of operation. Our two main focus areas are providing students with credit recovery opportunities and providing Zeeland students a non-traditional learning environment to meet their unique individual needs. We are continuing to develop our rotational blend model of education which encompasses both online and teacher-led instruction.

State law requires that we also report additional information.

Process for Assigning Pupils to the School – Students may be referred to Venture Academy by their Zeeland East or Zeeland West High School counselor due to credit deficiency or other factors impacting their academic success. Students may also choose Venture Academy to meet their unique academic situation as Venture Academy offers a much smaller setting with small group or individualized support.

The Status of the 3-5 Year School Improvement Plan – Venture Academy continues to work on our School Improvement Plan by focusing on best practices to support an at-risk population. Our current School Improvement Plan is in its fourth year and progress has been made toward all of the goals. One area of focus includes looking at the whole child to support their academic, social and emotional needs.

A Brief Description of each Specialized School – Venture Academy is comprised of 80 students in grades 9th – 12th. Four core content area teachers and two paraprofessionals support students to reach their academic potential. Venture Academy provides a small group setting to ensure students get the academic help necessary to graduate. Students meet with homeroom teachers on a daily basis to track progress and set academic goals. We utilize Edgenuity as our online content provider. Core content teachers use small group classroom settings to supplement, enhance and remediate the online content. Students are able to work at a faster pace than in the traditional setting so students can earn more than the six credits of the traditional school year.

Identify how to access a copy of the core curriculum, a description of its implementation, and an explanation of the variances from the state's model – Venture Academy, utilizing Edgenuity and Zeeland Public Schools curriculum, follows the Common Core State Standards. These may be found on the state website.

The aggregate student achievement results for any local competency test or nationally normed achievement tests –

2015

2016

SAT (Mean Score)

902.4

828.4

MSTEP Proficiency

(Science)

13.8%

7.7%

MSTEP Proficiency

(Social Studies)

41.4%

15.4%

Graduation Rate

NA

72.3%

Identify the number and percent of students represented by parents at parent-teacher conferences – 100% of our population participates in parent-teacher conferences. Venture Academy holds conferences every six weeks to support the academic growth and accomplishments of the students. Parents that are unable to attend in person hold a telephone conference.

For high schools, only report on the following:

The Number and percent of post secondary enrollments (dual enrollment) – 0

The number of college equivalent courses offered (AP/IB) – 17 (through Zeeland East/West High Schools)

The number and percentage of students enrolled in college equivalent courses (AP/IB) – 0

The number and percentage of students receiving a score leading to college credit – 0

Venture Academy strives to give students the support needed to graduate with their graduating class while maintaining high academic and social standards. We value the commitment and support from students, parents and our community. We look forward continuing to build on our success.